Sep 09, 11 at 10:34amLizz

The Pokemon Black Spriting Contest is the newest up-and-coming spriting contest for spriters to compete and fight for the title of the best spriter in the Pokemon Black forum! As with most spriting competitions, the Black Contest features a wide variety of sprite styles, such as fusions, retypes, trainers, and so much more. Come test your skills and see how you fare against the many talented spriters in the Black Forum. Are you up to the challenge?

There are currently two talented spriters who own and judge the competition.LizzElectricArcanineThe judges deserves your respect and courtesy, and their word is final, save for when the Section/Forum Moderator steps in. Any questions, comments, concerns or suggestions should be directed to them via Personal Message. Remember, the judges are ultimately here to help you improve and point out your flaws. Take what they say to heart and you'll definitely find your skills will improve!

To ensure that the competition runs smoothly, there are a few reasonable rules which have been set. In order to make sure your sprite can be judged, make sure you familiarize yourself with the rules, as broken rules can lead to lowered marks or disqualifications.

Only post sprites which follow the current round's theme. There are many sprite galleries around the Pokemon Forums where you can show off your other sprites. It clutters the thread and can make judging more complicated, so please refrain from posting other sprites. Only enter one entry. Please post all other sprites at the Sprite ShowcaseSpamming and flaming are not acceptable under any circumstances. Spam refers to any off-topic post which does not relate to the thread or the current theme. Flaming is when a member insults and attacks another member or a member's sprite. If you continue to break this rule, you may face a ban from entering future rounds. All off-topic discussions between members should be done elsewhere, preferably over PM.Theft will result in a ban from entering future rounds. If you steal another person's sprite and claim it as your own, you will be banned from entering in the future. Also, if you take an idea from a sprite and copy it to the point where you may as well have stolen it, you also could face a ban or disqualification for "idea theft". Being creative and original has its own rewards and generally works for the better.Please save your sprites in .PNG format, or .GIF for animated sprites. Other formats often lower the quality of your sprites. Sprites saved in other formats will be judged, however if the quality is lowered as a result of the format save, marks will be taken off. .PNG is always the best!Once you enter your sprite, you may not edit your entry. Each participant only is allowed to enter one sprite, so be sure you're 100% satisfied with your sprite before posting. When you post, please remember to list the sprites you used! You may edit the post with your entry in it to fix the coding, add some more information (such as the sprites you used or whether or not you'd like C+C), however you may not edit the sprite itself. If you are caught editing your entered sprite, you will be disqualified.Please try to use Diamond/Pearl or Platinum Sprites only. The newer sprites are by far the best. Using other sprites can lower your mark, depending on the end result. The only exception for this rule would be when you are entering a revamped sprite from an older game. The best place to get your sprites is The Spriters Resource. Pokemon Black and White Sprites can be found hereOnly critique sprites when the creator asks for it. "C+C" or Comments and Criticism are often asked by spriters to get feedback on their sprite. If you want it, simply ask for it when you post your sprite. If you want to give feedback to someone, feel free to post it on the thread, however it must be constructive criticism. You can point out flaws, but be sure to mention how you think they could be fixed, and mention parts you like. A little kindness goes a long way!Treat everyone with respect. Even if you dislike someone, they deserve your respect. Treat others how you want to be treated. This goes double for the judges. Please don't post asking when judging is or complaining if it's a bit late. The judges are real people too and as such, things going on in their lives can hinder their opportunity to have time to judge. Judging sprites takes quite a while, especially when there are a lot of entries. Please be patient and things should run smoothly!

On the date specified, a judge will gather all the entries and judge them on a scale from A-F. Pluses (A+) and Negatives (B-) will be given to differentiate between the good and the great. The best score a sprite can receive is A*, which is only given to flawless sprites. Once all the sprites have been judged, the top three scores will receive points to be added to the ongoing scoreboard. First place will receive three points, second place will receive two points, and third will receive a single point. Sprites which receive grades of A- or better will be added to the Hall of Fame in the following post.Here is where the current round's theme will be posted! You will also find the date of judging, and the name of the judge who will be judging this round. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask! If you don't fully understand the theme, then be sure to ask, because if you don't follow the theme because you didn't understand it, your sprite may receive a lowered grade.

That's all folks! We wish you the best of luck in the competition, and perhaps you'll find yourself the proud owner of some sprites in the Hall of Fame! If you'd like to take a leisurely walk down memory lane, here are the old threads of this competition:Platinum VersionsVersion 1 [Lead by TeamPokePimps]:[V1.0][V1.1]Version 2 [Lead by FourthBeat]:[V2.0][V2.1][V2.2]Version 3 [Lead by JJoploo]:[3.0]Version 4 [Lead by JosiePika]:[V4.0]Version 5 [Lead by Lizz]:[V5.0]

Oct 19, 12 at 9:22pm

ElectricArcanine

[A+]-I really love this sprite. It looks like a completely new pokemon, which I assume is the look you were going for since you fused 10+ pokemon. The colours work well together and the pose works nicely. My only complaint is how the shading on the purple knee-things looks about dithered(like GBA shading) with how you've arranged the pixels. Fix that though, and this sprite is perfect!

[B+]-First of all, welcome to neoseeker and this contest! It's always great to see new spriters entering contests. Now, if this is one of the first sprites you ever made you can be proud. At first glance, it works really well, and gives of that new pokemon feel that comes with fusing 10 pokemon. However there are some aspects holding you back from the A-grades. The main thing that bothers me here are that the sprite looks overcrowded. When I say this, I mean that there's too much going on which confuses the eye when you look at the sprite. The best way to fix this would be to get rid off Beautifly's wings, as they create most of this overcrowding problem. Secondly, I think this sprite would work better if you flipped the tail so it faces upwards and the back leg doesn't touch it. The colours you choose(primarily white, pink and green) work well together which is good. One last criticism that I have for this sprite is that the white colour needs to have more of a darker white colour for contrast as you can't really see the dark white unless you zoom in, which makes it look like one shade and consequently flat. Fix these problems, and this sprite could be on it's way to the A-grades.

[A]-This is for the most part, a very good devamp of Snivy. There's only one shade of the main colour and you've contrasted it with white, which is good. However, the one thing stopping this from getting an A+ is how structured the outline is. If you're doing a devamp, the outline should be choppy and dotted with pixels just like the old sprites. Apart from that though, a great devamp.

[A-]-First off, I do like this sprite and it's executed quite well as I can immediately tell that it's a ice/ground type. However, there are two things that bother me and are holding this sprite back from higher grades. Firstly, the complete lack of a mouth really bothers me. A sprite doesn't have to have a tail or patterns but it must have a mouth. Because there's no mouth I get no real facial expression which let's this sprite down. Secondly, the way you've proportioned the feet gives it a bit of an awkward pose, like it's mean to be standing on something but there's nothing there. Lastly, the body is very thin. I think that you should really make it fatter and get rid of someone of the white fur underneath it, as right now the dog looks anorexic. Apart from these problems though, a very well made sprite.First:Shmexie_x_Deoxys.Second:Vast.Third:CJames.well, that's another round of judging coming to a close. Hopefully this next round can create more entries and spur this contest back into life. As some of you may already have guessed, as soon as this thread hits the 30-page mark the new contest will be in the Black 2 forum, which will hopefully gain us some more activity.New Theme: Sprite your favorite singer or your favorite band(you don;t have to sprite all the band members if you don't want to, however you can if you want). For example if I was entering this theme(which I probably won't since my trainers are awful) I could sprite all five members of my favorite band, The Wanted or just one member, Nathan Sykes. Any questions or queries, feel free to ask!Due Date:27Th of October.Judge:Axelea(or myself if he's not free).

~EA~

Oct 19, 12 at 7:58pm

ElectricArcanine

Apologies for the delay, judging will be up within the next couple of hours.

~EA~

Sep 23, 12 at 12:20pm

CJames

Ice Dog. Ice/Ground type.

Sep 21, 12 at 3:35pm

Vast

Snivy Devamp.

Sep 21, 12 at 2:20pm

AxeLea

Sorry I have not judged this like I said I would. I have been swamped with college and band practice, so I haven't had much time. ElectricArcanine, if you have time tonight, could you judge? If not, I will judge most likely sometime tomorrow.

Sep 20, 12 at 9:50am

CJames

The theme has been changed to open, yes?

Sep 18, 12 at 6:10am

Shmexie_x_Deoxys

new entry:

Sep 17, 12 at 3:57pm

DarkFireEternal

Well, there's my very first sprite to be judged. I guess i could use some C+C. I already know the outlining's bad and it looks too much like a dressed-up Lopunny than a fusion, but you can tell me that again if you'd like.

If you want to know how I used the ten Pokemon, I used: Lopunny, Unfezant, Gardevoir for the arms, Sableye for one leg, Liepard for the other leg, Lilligant for the chest, Petilil for the skirt thing, Lucario for the ear, Delcatty for the tail and Jumpluff for the end of the tail.

I lost track on the coloring. I think it was mainly Gardevoir and Unfezant for that.

Sep 16, 12 at 4:39pm

AxeLea

It will count as a new entry, which is acceptable because of the theme switch. This normally wouldn't be allowed but as you were the only one who put forth the effort to make an entry, I will allow it.